Bennie Harris, Lipscomb’s Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations,will be leaving the university to join Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga.
On June 1, Harris will be taking over the role of Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Morehouse.
“Bennie led us through two highly successful campaigns,” said university president Randy Lowry in a press release from the school.
“He assembled an excellent team of development professionals to undertake a major capital initiative which many schools shied away from in the depth of the economic challenges the country has faced in recent years.
“Bennie and his family are an important part of the Lipscomb community and he will be greatly missed.”
Harris has been at Lipscomb since 2007, and in his time with the school, he has overseen multiple projects concerning the betterment of the campus.
Harris speaks highly of the Lipscomb community, but he said he looks forward to the next step in his career.
“My family and I have cherished the supportive, loving and Christian community we have been a part of here,” Harris said in the press release. “But, this is a very unique opportunity to for me to have a new experience in higher education that fits with my long-term career goals. I am excited about this new chapter in our lives.”
In 2010, Harris was the leader of the $54 million overhaul project of Lipscomb’s campus that included the construction of The Village, the Thomas James McMeen Music Center and the establishment of the school’s College of Pharmacy, the first of its kind in Middle Tennessee.
The 2010 project also involved major renovations to buildings across campus, including the Bennett Campus Center, the Burton Health Sciences Center and the Collins Alumni Auditorium.
Another major project Harris has overseen on campus is the Lipscomb: Next campaign. The goal of the campaign was to invest $125 million of improvements by Lipscomb’s 125th anniversary in 2016. New undergraduate and graduate programs and the construction of new academic buildings have been two of the main goals of the campaign.
In addition to his duties as vice president, Harris has been an adjunct professor in the university’s College of Business, as well as at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.